Dunne bankrupt
Developer now faces 12 years for his debt to clear
DEVELOPER Seán Dunne has been ruled bankrupt by the High Court after a fiercely fought legal battle with Ulster Bank.
The decision means the former ‘Baron of Ballsbridge’ could now be forced to wait 12 years before he is declared debt-free.
The 58-year-old had hoped to go bankrupt in the US where he could be freed of the financial restrictions within a year.
And voluntary transfers of property allegedly made by Mr Dunne to his wife, former journalist Gayle Killilea, within the past five years could now come under scrutiny.
The properties may have to be given back to Mr Dunne’s estate if it is found he was insolvent at the time they were transferred.
The High Court ruling came after a €164million judgment Ulster Bank obtained against Dunne.
Yesterday, in the absence of any attendance in court by Mr Dunne or his lawyers, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne adjudicated him a bankrupt in Ireland.
She said she was satisfied he knew
‘Did everything to thwart case’
of the court proceedings, and they could not have come as any surprise to Mr Dunne, who was reportedly once worth more than €100million.
Lyndon MacCann SC, for Ulster Bank, which was supported by Nama, applied for the case to proceed in the absence of the Co. Carlow native. He said there was a critical urgency in the petition.
‘Gratuitous dispositions [in favour of Ms Killilea] took place prior to the making of bankruptcy order... they are void unless it can be satisfied the debtor was solvent at time,’ he explained.
He told the court of the various attempts to serve the bankruptcy petition on Mr Dunne recently, including a call to a new address in Connecticut where the bank understood he lived with his wife.
He said a blonde woman with an Irish accent, who drove an SUV, had answered the door, but said she would not take the papers and that her husband would be away for a number of weeks. The US marshal pinned the documents to the door of the house, Mr MacCann said. He also noted that Mr Dunne knew yesterday’s court hearing was taking place. ‘It is abundantly clear he’s been at all times aware of these proceedings,’ he said.
He added that the developer had ‘done everything he can to thwart proceedings’, adding that there was ‘ample opportunity’ for him to have come in and adjourned the case.
Mr MacCann told the judge the bank first moved to bankrupt Mr Dunne in February last, when it was given leave by the High Court to serve him outside the jurisdiction. The following month, Mr Dunne made a voluntary bid for bankruptcy in the US, giving his address as Greenwich, Connecticut.
Mr Dunne had been attempting to stop proceedings going ahead here. He was relying on a US law which generally prevents other bankruptcy proceedings being taken outside of the States.But Ulster Bank then filed a motion with the bankruptcy court in Connecticut asking that it be allowed to serve papers on Mr Dunne and continue proceedings in Ireland, under a partial lifting of the worldwide ban.Ulster Bank has con- tinually insisted that Mr Dunne is an Irish citizen who continues to be ‘domiciled’ in Ireland, and has only a temporary business visa for the States. It says he has family here, and acts as a landlord in Ireland.
In an initial ruling, Judge Alan Shiff sided with Ulster Bank, but Mr Dunne appealed. Judge Shiff turned down that appeal this month.
Mr Dunne listed debts of more than €700million during his US bankruptcy bid. He said he owed Ulster Bank around €300million.
He said in his initial filing at the US bankruptcy court in March that he had assets of between $1million and $ 10million but owed between $500million and $1billion. At the time, Mr Dunne maintained that, during the boom years, he contributed €350million to the Exchequer.
He added: ‘I am personally happy my debt to the Irish State is clear.’
The €164million judgment at the heart of Ulster Bank’s petition relates to loans given to Mr Dunne’s firms to buy hotels in Ballsbridge.
In March 2012, in a separate action, Mr Dunne consented at the Commercial Court to orders requiring him to pay €185.3million to Nama.